A crisis meeting is to take place next month in response to the worsening ferry situation impacting South Uist.
Five years of being plagued by a chaotic CalMac ferry service is bringing down the local economy, financially hitting businesses and families, and ruining the island’s prospects, the Scottish Government is warned.
Four key commitments are demanded from the South Uist Business Impact Group (SUBIG), organisers of the summit taking place on 15 April at Cnoc Sollier in Daliburgh.
Of immediate urgency is provision of a better ferry service from Caledonian MacBrayne for South Uist during forthcoming disruption over April and May, including sailings with greater capacity than just 45 passengers.
The Scottish Government - which is responsible for providing ships to CalMac is being
pressed to honour its pledge to build a new ferry for the South Uist - Mallaig route,
to replace the current ship MV Lord of the Isles which will be 40 years old by the
time a suitable new vessel arrives.
Equally essential is the construction of a new pier in South Uist to replace the
current life-expired structure.
The fourth demand is for resilience grant funding to be awarded for island businesses in affected Uist postcodes (HS6, HS7, HS8) to help invest for the future so that they are ready and prepared once reliable transport connections are restored.
SUBIG say a financial commitment to build South Uist’s new ferry pier at Gasay by Lochboisdale and the purchase of a new ferry would “invigorate the island’s population and provide hope for the future.
“South Uist’s community and businesses want to and will thrive, and only ask for a fair opportunity to do so.
“The contiguous islands of Uist put it in the top 10% of UK islands by land mass
and have huge potential for economic growth, to produce sustainable energy, and to
contribute to hi-tech skills-based jobs, including the planned spaceport.”
A community vote of no confidence against CalMac two years ago was humiliating for the shipping company which used to take great pride in its Uist linked history stretching over 170 years and a name synonymous with the Hebrides.
No improvement has emerged despite high profile protests in 2023 when around 500 people turned out in anger in South Uist against CalMac’s habit of diminishing the island’s lifeline ferry to cover shortage elsewhere. And in Glasgow, some 120 island exiles marched on the city centre in solidarity with Uist.
Uist loses around £267,000 of income each week the ferry is cancelled according to
a survey - a severe economic hammer blow, particularly in the tourism sector when
streams of visitors cancel their annual holiday.
The island’s pier at Lochboisdale harbour is life-expired while its aging official
ferry, MV Lord of the Isles, regularly breaks down, and last year suffered a fire
in the engine room which resulted in the ship limping back to a port from which it
neither left nor was heading, leaving passengers stranded on another island in the
middle of the night.
South Uist Business Impact Group highlights: “The Isle of South Uist has great potential for a flourishing economy. South Uist’s largest employer is a key player in the worldwide defence infrastructure, the island’s shellfish and seafood is exported across Europe, and Gaelic is still the vernacular language.
“Uist is home to three distillery companies, bustling cafés, three learning centres for UHI’s North West Hebrides College, and enjoys unrivalled wildlife which draws thousands of visitors every year, including regular visits from national broadcasters.
“Yet this happens despite, not because of, transport links with the mainland.”
More reliable transport links to and from South Uist would allow the ability to better plan the export of produce, import of materials, and travel by visitors, islanders and families, for tourism, shopping, healthcare and leisure states the campaign group.
South Uist has suffered five years of “reputational damage” due to the Scottish Government’s “failure” to provide reliable transport links with the mainland.
The island has had its original timetabled service provided for barely more than half of the past year, the remainder cancelled or replaced with a lower level by CalMac, often last minute, contingency service.
South Uist is currently sharing the MV Isle of Mull ferry with a heavily reduced capacity for just 45 passengers, instead of her top limit of over 900 due to lifesaving equipment constraints, running to a port 85 miles away from its timetabled port of Mallaig, and taking up to 8 hours to cross instead of 3.5 hours.
Mainland businesses are reluctant to tender for island-based contracts because of
the unreliability of transport connections, campaigners point out.
The group highlights travel companies are unwilling to bring coach holidays through Uist because of the financial and reputational costs of the frequent disruption, and families are forced to spend days travelling for basic healthcare, taking additional time off from work to allow for the all too likely disruption of the ferry service.
Crisis summit planned as fears grow over South Uist ferry failings
19 March 2025
